<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Drifting by Yuuzel</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24126169">Drifting</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuzel/pseuds/Yuuzel'>Yuuzel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Living Together, M/M, Not Beta Read, Sharing a Bed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:09:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,928</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24126169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuzel/pseuds/Yuuzel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I'll eat in my room.”</p><p>“I already had lunch at Uni.”</p><p>“This game doesn't have a multiplayer mode.”</p><p>“I'd rather study alone.”</p><p> </p><p>Kenma had never been a big talker. Tetsurou had always felt content leading their conversations and filling the silence. Now, he did not even have the opportunity to do so. There was no conversation to lead, no silence to fill. </p><p>***<br/>Tetsurou could have never imagined that moving in with his best friend would just make them drift apart.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>119</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Drifting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moving in together with Kenma had always seemed like a natural decision to Tetsurou. It was just the way things were supposed to be. Grass was green, the sky was blue and Tetsurou and Kenma were inseparable.  </p><p>The prospect of living with his best friend after both of them had graduated had seemed exciting to Tetsurou. There seemed to be no downside to it. Their shared apartment was close to the university they both attended, which was far more convenient than commuting from his childhood home every day.<br/>
Getting to spend more time with Kenma was supposed to make it even better. They were already spending most of their time together before university, being neighbors, but living together was something entirely different.<br/>
It excited Tetsurou, that he would have the opportunity to eat breakfast together, to go grocery shopping together, or to see a sleepy Kenma at the end of the day.<br/>
It had all seemed so simple. They already filled up so much space in each other's lives, it did not seem like much of a stretch to just fill up the rest as well.</p><p>He had expected video game nights every night and studying together and watching badly animated film adaptations of Chinese video games. What he hadn't expected was the way Kenma instead distanced himself from Tetsurou.</p><p> </p><p>“I'll eat in my room.”</p><p>“I already had lunch at Uni.”</p><p>“This game doesn't have a multiplayer mode.”</p><p>“I'd rather study alone.”</p><p> </p><p>Kenma had never been a big talker. Tetsurou had always felt content leading their conversations and filling the silence. Now, he did not even have the opportunity to do so. There was no conversation to lead, no silence to fill.<br/>
As soon as Kenma would come home, he immediately disappeared into his bedroom to study, play video games or maybe to text and talk to people who were not his best friend – Tetsurou couldn't know obviously, it wasn't like Kenma told him anything anymore.</p><p>***</p><p>Tetsurou knew for a fact that Kenma was home. His shoes were neatly lined up next to the door and his keys were in the cat patterned bowl that Akaashi had gifted them.<br/>
Even though they lived together, it had been days, if not weeks since Tetsurou had seen him for longer than ten minutes.<br/>
He had no idea why. Yes, Tetsurou may have had a tendency to rile people up, but never Kenma. No matter how many times he replayed their interactions in his head, he just didn't know where he went wrong. He didn't have it in him to be angry.<br/>
Sure, he was hurt, but most of all he was worried. Because even if he didn't remember it, he had to have done something that made his best friend of ten years not want to see him.</p><p>Which was why he finally decided to apologize to Kenma. Even if he didn't know what for. He just wanted his best friend back. </p><p>Hesitantly, Tetsurou knocked on Kenma's bedroom door, a small, slightly damp paper box in his left hand, his hair still dripping from the rain. He heard shuffling from inside the room, but there was no verbal response.<br/>
He swallowed and clenched his fist. </p><p>“Hey Kenma, I know you're in there. If you're not busy, I'd like to talk. I brought apple pie,” he said in a quiet voice. </p><p>There was a small pause. Tetsurou was ready to leave the paper box at the door and turn around, when he had Kenma's voice for the first time in days. </p><p>“You can come in.”</p><p>Tetsurou felt relief wash over him. This was his opportunity to talk to Kenma. Carefully, he opened the door and stepped into Kenma's bedroom. It was a plain room, with a bed, a closet and a TV with two gaming consoles. Kenma had never been interested in decorating, if he had a few comfortable pillows and a play station, he was set. </p><p>Kenma was sitting on his bed with his phone, playing some gacha based mobile RPG.<br/>
Tetsurou handed him the box. The short blond immediately opened it and began to dig in with a small plastic fork. </p><p>Gathering all the courage he had, Tetsurou began to speak.</p><p>“You know, I was really excited about living together with you, but I feel like we've been spending less and less time together. I know that you need alone time and I respect that, but I really miss you.</p><p>“If I did anything wrong, please tell me so I can change my behavior. I would never do anything to hurt you, please remember that.”</p><p>Kenma turned around, he didn't look at Tetsurou's eyes, but at least he faced him more or less.</p><p>“Please,” Tetsurou continued, “I miss you. You're my closest friend.”</p><p>With a sigh, Kenma looked back at his half-finished slice of apple pie.<br/>
“I'm sorry, but I really need to be alone right now,” Kenma whispered.</p><p>For a moment, Tetsurou just stared at the door. How could it have come to this?<br/>
Before standing up and leaving the room, he gently squeezed Kenma's shoulder. “If you're having trouble, I'm always here.”</p><p>***</p><p>Tetsurou was lying on his bed, wallowing in self-pity, and watching cat videos on his phone. The rain had been getting louder and stronger for the past few hours, occasionally being interrupted by loud thunder or a flash of lightning.<br/>
Suddenly, but not unexpectedly, the lights turned off, just when Tetsurou was watching a tiny kitten walk for the first time. </p><p>He would have just kept watching until tired, but his phone battery was getting low and he did not want it to turn off without a chance to charge it.</p><p>It was still way too early to go to sleep. He didn't feel like reading and more cat videos were now out of the question.<br/>
After a while of tossing and turning under his blanket, he felt his stomach rumble. </p><p>His 'conversation' with Kenma made him forget about eating dinner, so he made his way to the kitchen, the blanket still around his shoulders. </p><p>He was surprised to find his friend sitting at the kitchen table, his face illuminated by the bright screen of his phone. </p><p>“Hey,” Kenma said quietly.</p><p>Tetsurou made his way to the fridge and opened it. The light did not turn on.<br/>
He stared into the dark refrigerator. “We should probably eat the pudding, it will probably go bad if the electricity doesn't turn back on.”<br/>
Almost in a trance, he placed two plastic cups of pudding and two spoons on the table and sat down across from Kenma.</p><p>Kenma stared at him for a moment and then pulled the lid of his cup. “Did you even have dinner?”</p><p>“At least I didn't already eat apple pie.”</p><p>This brought a pout to Kenma's face. Oh, how Tetsurou had missed that pout. How he had missed the ways the former setter's ways could contort to form countless expressions of dissatisfaction. He thought it was adorable, the way a line formed between Kenma's eyebrows, how his upper lip seemed slightly thinner, and his cheeks a little bit fuller. </p><p>“That was your fault,”, Kenma mumbled.<br/>
Tetsurou raised his eyebrow. “You didn't have to eat it.”</p><p>“I wanted to,” Kenma said, “you bought it for me.”<br/>
When he shyly glanced up at Tetsurou's face, the black-haired nineteen-year-old felt his heart skip.<br/>
He wanted Kenma to like at him like this forever. He never wanted him to look away.</p><p>Kenma looked away.<br/>
He was biting his lip in hesitation, before sliding his phone over to Tetsurou.<br/>
“I've been playing this new game.”</p><p>Carefully, Tetsurou took the phone into his hand and examined the title screen. “The art style looks really cool. I like it.”</p><p>“I thought you would.”</p><p>At first slowly and then with a bit more enthusiasm that anyone who was not Tetsurou would have missed, Kenma began explaining the premise of the game.<br/>
In his own simple way, he talked about his favorite characters, what their powers were and what made them 'objectively the best choice'. </p><p>Sometimes, Tetsurou gently interrupted his friend to ask a question. He hummed in understanding when Kenma explained a complicated, but effective strategy to him.</p><p>After a while, Kenma stopped talking and started listening instead, to stories about Tetsurou's recent experiences at university, some more interesting, some less. He didn't ask questions, but at some points, he nodded. When Tetsurou got really excited, he even looked up at him for a few seconds, almost smiling. </p><p>They were both carefully falling into step with each other again. At some point, it was almost like they forgot that this was not normal anymore. That this was the first time in weeks they were actually talking to each other.<br/>
It still felt a bit fragile, but they did not let this stop the conversation from carrying them to were so many of there hang-outs had ended in the past, to Kenma's bed.<br/>
They fell asleep while whispering to each other under the soft blanket, sharing body heat and hoping desperately for this spell of normalcy not to wear off in the morning.</p><p>***</p><p>The first thing Tetsurou noticed when opening his eyes, was that he felt cold. This was probably because Kenma had taken the blanket for himself. He always did that, yet somehow, Tetsurou could never bring himself to be mad at him. It was just the way things were. Normal.</p><p>Wait.</p><p>This was not in the least bit normal. They never shared a bed anymore, they hadn't ever since they had moved in together.<br/>
Kenma hadn't talked to him in weeks, which brought his tired brain to only one possible conclusion. </p><p>Tetsurou was clearly still dreaming. It wouldn't be the first time he dreamed about waking up next to his best friend, so he proceeded the same way as in every dream of this kind. </p><p>He pulled Kenma's sleeping body on top of his chest and gently nuzzled his bleached hair.</p><p>“My Kenma,” he whispered into his ear, “I miss you so much.”</p><p>He breathed in the scent of strawberry shampoo. This dream was quite realistic. </p><p>Kenma groaned and shifted on top of him, looking up at him through his hair with tired and slightly confused eyes. </p><p>This was usually the point were Tetsurou woke up, so he had to be quick. There were so many things he wanted to do, but he knew that there wasn't enough time. </p><p>Gently, he placed a kiss on Kenma's forehead, then another one on his cheek and a last one on his nose. This made the blond's face turn a light pink and his eyebrows furrowed a bit more.</p><p>Pulling him close again, Tetsurou sighed. “I wish this wasn't a dream.” He closed his eyes again. After all, he didn't want to be too greedy. This was enough for now, he was ready to wake up. </p><p>Instead, he felt how Kenma propped himself up on his elbows, which a little painfully poked him in the chest.<br/>
When he opened his eyes, he saw that Kenma's face was still red, but his expression was no longer one of confusion, but one of fondness and exasperation. </p><p>“You idiot,” Kenma said. “It's not.”</p><p>When his best friend leaned down and kissed him, it was now Tetsurou's turn to blush. He wasn't quite ready to believe that he was awake until their teeth painfully clinked together when the kiss deepened. </p><p>Holding Kenma's face between his hands, he looked up at him in awe. “Please don't leave me again.”</p><p>Burying his face in Tetsurou's neck, Kenma answered, “Never.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading if you made it this far!<br/>This is the longest thing I have written yet, and I am quite happy with how it came out. I tried writing something akin to angst for the first time, and while it hurt me, it made it way easier to come up with some semblance of a plot somehow!<br/>As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, I'm still a beginner so I'd be really thankful for some criticism.  </p><p>Talk to me on Twitter if you want: https://twitter.com/lilijanart</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>